


Little by Little

by marimoes



Series: Promptober 2019 [16]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Meat Cute AU, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 22:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21084119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marimoes/pseuds/marimoes
Summary: Luffy wakes up to Law gone one night, and finds him at a piano.





	Little by Little

**Author's Note:**

> Day 16: Ivory
> 
> I've really been excited for this one I'm not gonna lie. This falls in the universe of another story I'm writing, if you haven't read it, it doesn't interfere.

Luffy wakes. It’s the middle of the night, or at least he assumes so, given how dark it is. Only a single strip of moonlight pouring into Law’s room gives something for his eyes to focus on. 

Law.

Luffy’s hands pat the bed next to him blindly, but no one is there. It’s empty, and he’s alone. Before his brain can follow, his feet are moving, sliding off the bed onto the cold wooden floor. 

He nearly tugs the comforter off of the bed to wrap around his body, with cold end of winter air kissing his skin, but he doesn’t. The cold doesn’t alert him enough, nothing else could at this moment. He’s set on Law. 

Soft padding of his feet against the floor fills his ears, that gentle stick each time they lift up, and it almost distracts him when he passes Law’s office. The tiny room near the end of the hall that he always has shut. Luffy has never seen inside of it. 

But now, it’s open. 

Just a crack, but Luffy knows he’s in there, and before he can reason it he’s pushing the door further open. It’s creak soft as Luffy slips into the room. His eyes sweep the space, noting the desk and cabinet, each organized as he would expect. 

What he doesn’t expect is the piano Law is sitting at. 

The standing piano, tucked into the corner with Law at it’s bench, is playing softly. Almost silently, and Luffy wonders how he’s doing it until he remembers the electric piano Brook keeps in his room. They look real, but they can do so much more than one with strings. 

His favorite thing is the one that makes everything sound like cats. Maybe, Law has that setting. 

“Did I wake you?” Law asks, head not turning away from the keys, voice so soft that Luffy barely hears him. 

Luffy walks closer, head tilted, but Law doesn’t look back. He only tilts his head to the empty space on the edge of the bench and continues playing. A soft, sad song that Luffy doesn’t recognize. 

It’s pretty. 

“Why are you up?” Luffy asks, slipping onto the edge of the bench and curls a leg up to his chest to rest his head, “Couldn’t sleep?”

Law doesn’t pause, simply sighs, “Dreams.” 

Luffy presses his shoulder into Law’s, but not so much that it disrupts his playing. After all, it’s so pretty and he doesn’t want him to stop. 

“Good ones?” Luffy asks and Law gives a quick glance to the side. His eyes look more tired than normal. 

He shakes his head, giving a soft ‘no’, and continues playing. The song is long, but Luffy notices it repeats itself. Maybe that’s why Law likes it so much, it doesn’t have to end until he wants it to. 

“What song is this?” Luffy asks, pressing a kiss into Law’s shoulder and can feel him relax just a little. So he stays like that, humming a soft warmth through the thin cotton of Law’s shirt. “It’s really pretty.” 

Law turns his head for the first time, but still his hands move. He presses a kiss into Luffy’s head before turning back to the keys, and Luffy hums. They’re working off something more than memory, Law’s hands, and Luffy wonders how often he gets up to play in the middle of the night. 

“It’s my favorite. Petit a petit l'oiseau fait son nid,” Law says and hears Luffy grumble at the foreign language, “Little by little, the bird makes its nest.” 

Luffy leans back up, eyes focused on Law’s hands, ears sinking into the melody, and he sees it. A small bird, coming and going, and each time his nest gets bigger. Every small twig he gathers having meaning, slowly shaping his home. 

“It’s my favorite, too.” Luffy says lifting off Law’s shoulder, and he tenses for a moment before releasing, “Do you wanna sleep anymore? It’s ok if you don’t.” 

The song rounds to a natural end, and Law lets his hands rest over the keys. Looking at Luffy again, he sees the sleep that pulls at his eyes, and in the same way it pulls at his heart. On nights like this, he’ll often play for hours until the sun rises. 

Anything to get his mind away from the world he once again dreamt. One of fire. 

“Let’s go back to bed, hm?” Law asks, moving one of his hands beneath Luffy’s chin. He leans in, placing a single kiss against his lips, and feels Luffy smile against him, “I don’t want to hear you complaining about being sleepy tomorrow.” 

Sliding off the bench, they both set back for the bedroom. The silence now heavier than before, and Law feels Luffy wrap his arms around him from behind. Like a blanket of sorts, it comforts him, and he starts to feel drowsy again. 

Settling back into the bed, Luffy curls around Law. His leg slung over his waist to trap him in his hold, arm beneath his neck, and hands on his chest. Any other person would be dead the minute they tried to hold Law like this, but something about Luffy, something isn’t the same. 

Each time the man behind him breaks down another wall, it’s like the picture gets clearer in his mind of what he wants his life to be. Luffy unknowingly shaping and molding his world with his love, and Law has stopped fighting it. Simply lets Luffy continue to form something new. 

Little by little, Luffy is making their life together. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @noswordstyle  
Twitter: @__moes__


End file.
